What is a good summary of The Invalid's Story?

“An Invalid’s Story” by Mark Twain is absolutely hilarious and a testament to how olfactory images can truly color a piece of literature. The narrator begins by telling us that he is the invalid due to his resulting sickness, and proceeds to tell his story.

We learn that the narrator’s friend Hackett has died, and the narrator vows to bring the body back to Hackett’s father in Wisconsin (a long train ride away). The narrator finds the pine box near the train, assumes it is Hackett’s body, attaches a note to it, and loads it into the express car. The narrator also tells us that he later spies someone else attaching a note to an identical pine box. What the narrator doesn’t know at the time is that the pine box in the express car does not contain Hackett’s body. Instead, it contains a bunch of guns. Likewise, the identical pine box loaded elsewhere does not contain a bunch of guns. Instead, it contains Hackett’s body. Before the train leaves the station, someone puts a package of limburger cheese on top of the pine box located in the express car.

The rest of the story involves the horrible smell produced by the limburger cheese that the two men (the narrator and the expressman named Thompson) think is emanating from Hackett’s dead body, but is, in fact, just the cheese. There is a series of episodes where the two men either try to mask the odor (by lighting fires, obtaining disinfectant, smoking cigars, etc.) or try to escape from the odor (by breaking a window and taking turns sniffing the fresh air). Eventually, the two decide to risk the cold instead of dealing with the horrible smell. Thompson dies from the cold, and the narrator gets Typhoid Fever and becomes the invalid of the title.

Describe the change of color of methyl orange in acid and base solution.

Methyl orange is one of the most commonly used color change indicator in acid-base titrations. The purpose of color change indicator, in such titrations, is to change the color of the solution as the pH of the solution changes. The chemical formula of methyl orange is . This indicator has a yellow color in alkaline solutions and red color in acidic solution. In between, it transitions to orange color. 

More specifically, the color change takes place at a pH of 3.7. At a pH of 3.1 or less, methyl orange is red in color. As we continue adding alkaline solution, the pH of the solution rises and between a pH of 3.1 and 4.4, the color of the indicator is orange. With continued alkali addition, the pH rises and above a pH of 4.4, methyl orange appears yellow.

Hope this helps. 

Evaluate the indefinite integral.

You need to use the following substitution , such that:

Replacing back  for t yields:

Hence, evaluating the indefinite integral, yields

Discuss humor and pathos in Lamb's "The Superannuated Man."

In "The Superannuated Man" Elia, Lamb's alter-ego, discusses his retirement after 36 years of work in a business, a situation similar to Lamb's own retirement from the East India House. In this essay, pathos and humor are woven together: we laugh and cry at the same time, but perhaps most strongly feel the pathos of Elia's situation in which both work and retirement have their price. 

Elia first talks eloquently about how he longed for time off when he worked. We feel the pain of the brevity of his vacations and the irony of how difficult a time he had enjoying them because they were so short. He writes of his week's annual holiday:

its recurrence, I believe, alone kept me up through the year, and made my durance tolerable. But when the week came round, did the glittering phantom of the distance keep touch with me? or rather was it not a series of seven uneasy days, spent in restless pursuit of pleasure, and a wearisome anxiety to find out how to make the most of them? Where was the quiet, where the promised rest? Before I had a taste of it, it was vanished. I was at the desk again, counting upon the fifty-one tedious weeks that must intervene before such another snatch would come. 

As he gets older, he worries at home about making a mistake at work, poking gentle fun at himself for the night terrors he experiences, but more fully, revealing to us the pathos of what it's like to take work home with him. 

After he retires, pathos and humor mix. He has his desired freedom and finds it overwhelming: 

I wandered about, thinking I was happy, and knowing that I was not. I was in the condition of a prisoner in the old Bastile, suddenly let loose after a forty years’ confinement.

More pathos and humor emerge as he visits his former workplace. He had wanted nothing more than escape from this job, which he compared to prison, then, ironically feels displaced when "my old desk; the peg where I hung my hat, were appropriated to another."

There's humor but truth in his observations of what happens when we get what we most wish for: we often don't know what to do with it, and we often experience a sense of loss along with the gain. Elia manages to adjust to retirement and the wealth of time he has each day, every day. But he lets us know in his quiet way that the change isn't entirely easy. 

How do plants cause weathering of rocks?

Weathering of rocks, is simply, the breakdown of rocks by various factors. Plants are capable of weathering of rocks. In fact, plants can cause both mechanical and biological (or chemical) weathering of rocks. When plants grow on (or in vicinity of) rocks, their roots expand and go through cracks and fissures in the rocks. Over time, the roots grow in size and cause the crack to widen and eventually result in fragmentation and break down of the rock. This type of weathering (known as the mechanical weathering) will be even faster if the plant is larger in size. Plants are also capable of releasing molecules such as organic acids and chelating agents that break down the rocks and cause biological weathering. An example is lichen growing on rock surfaces.

Hope this helps.  

Write the partial fraction decomposition of the improper rational expression.

Since the above expression is an improper rational expression , the first step is to divide and express it as a sum of simpler fractions such that the degree of polynomial in the numerator is less than the degree of polynomial in the denominator.

Dividing the above expression using long division method yields,

 Since the polynomials do not completely divide , we have to continue with the partial fractions of the remainder expression.

Now let's factorize the denominator of the remainder expression,

Let, 

equating the coefficients of the like terms,

                ------- equation 1

   ------- equation 2

Plug the value of A in equation 1,

Plug the value of A and B in equation 2 ,

 

What was Emily Brontë’s view on marriage in Wuthering Heights?

Emily Bronte's views on marriage, as expressed in her novel Wuthering Heights, are unlike the views most modern readers, especially students, may hold.  Living in the northern England moors in the 1800s, people were isolated.  They had the opportunity to meet people very infrequently.  

In this novel, social interaction typically occurs within the family.  Only by accident does Catherine meet and end up residing with her neighbors at Thrushcross Grange for a short time.  As a result of this isolation, people's choices for romantic partners were limited.  We can see this through Catherine's first falling for her adopted brother, and then choosing to marry her wealthier neighbor.  She did not necessarily love him, but she felt the social pressure to marry well, and as she tells Nelly, she does not think she will find a suitable person in Gimmerton.  This marriage, as we see, is an unhappy one.

On the contrary, Hareton and Cathy do get married.  Their love is not the product of social expectation but of a love that grows out of shared situations. They both endure Heathcliff's abuse and gradually form a bond against him.  Their marriage is implied to be a happy new start on New Year's Day.

Bronte seems to be saying that marriage in isolated locations provides fewer choices for people, but this lack of a dating pool should not force a woman into a loveless marriage.

Why does Caliban hate Prospero so much in The Tempest? In his view, what has Prospero done wrong?

Caliban believes that Prospero treats him badly and stole his island from him.

When Prospero came to the island, Caliban was already there. Prospero made him into his servant, or slave, and took control of the island. Caliban believes that Prospero treats him unnecessarily cruelly and accuses him of stealing the island from him. He thinks the island is his birthright because his mother was there first.

According to Caliban, Prospero tricked him by treating him kindly in the beginning so that he would show Prospero the secrets of the island.

This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,
Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me
Water with berries in't, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee
And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle … (Act 1, Scene 2)

It is Prospero’s contention that Caliban tried to assault Miranda, and therefore their treatment of him is justified.  Caliban doesn’t deny it, using the accusation to tease Prospero and Miranda. They both hate Caliban, and Prospero continuously threatens him.

When Caliban meets Trinculo and Stephano, he tries to convince them to kill Prospero and take the island from him.

Remember
First to possess his books; for without them
He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not
One spirit to command: they all do hate him
As rootedly as I. (Act 3, Scene 2)

Caliban claims that everyone on the island hates Prospero and he has enslaved all of its magical creatures and inhabitants. Prospero definitely seems to use Ariel to do his bidding. Although Caliban says that once they take Prospero’s books from him he will be helpless, Prospero is playing a much better game. Caliban doesn't have a chance against him.

However, at the end of the play, Prospero decides to let go of all of his grievances. He could have punished Caliban and his confederates for their attempted attack on him, but he chooses not to. He lets go of his magic and leaves the island to Caliban.

Who is Bud's father?

Unfortunately, Bud never finds out who his father is.

While Bud spends the majority of the book believing that Herman E. Calloway is his father, it is revealed in Chapter Eighteen that Calloway is actually Bud's grandfather. After Bud sees that Calloway collects rocks and writes on them, Bud shows him that he has several rocks with writing on them, too. Calloway accuses Bud of stealing the rocks from the room that he had been sleeping in, but Bud tells him that he had received the rocks from his mother. 

It is at this point in the story that Calloway realizes that he's never asked what Bud's mother's name is. Bud tells him the truth: Angela Janet Caldwell. Angela is actually the daughter of Calloway; she had run away from home because Calloway had been so hard on her growing up and had not been heard from since. Her death comes as an enormous shock to Calloway, who had been waiting for the eleven years since her disappearance for her to come home. 

Bud only learns that his father could be a drummer from Calloway's band, a man his mother may have run off with. However, there is no definitive conclusion. Despite this, Bud finds himself in a new home and with a new family in the shape of Calloway and his band.  

Describe the background events leading up to the war between North and South Vietnam.

In order to understand the events leading to the Vietnam War, we must look at the region of French Indochina prior to the start of World War II. France ruled this region prior to World War II. During the war, the Japanese took over Indochina. The people of Indochina, led by Ho Chi Minh, worked to remove Japan from the region. When World War II ended, the people in Indochina hoped to gain their independence. However, France returned to rule the region.

The people of Indochina now focused their efforts to remove France from the region. Since Ho Chi Minh supported communism, we helped France in their struggle against the Indochinese by giving France money and supplies. However, the people of Indochina were successful in the conflict against France, using primarily guerilla warfare methods. They surrounded the French troops at Dien Bien Phu, and France was forced to surrender.

The Geneva Accords were developed to determine the future of French Indochina. The region would be divided into four countries. These countries were Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. There would be elections held in both North Vietnam and in South Vietnam within two years to unite the two countries into one country.

However, in 1956, South Vietnam refused to hold the elections. The United States supported South Vietnam in this decision. Both South Vietnam and the United States were concerned there wouldn’t be free election in North Vietnam, and, as a result, North Vietnam would win the election and would make all of Vietnam communist. We believed in the domino theory that said if one country in a region would become communist, then others would follow. Thus, we supported South Vietnam’s decision to not hold the elections. We knew this would lead to war. In 1956, North Vietnam began fighting to take over South Vietnam. We supported South Vietnam in the beginning of the war by providing military aid and economic aid to South Vietnam. Eventually, we became fully involved in the conflict by sending in our soldiers after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed in 1964.

Explore the ways Shakespeare presents good and bad in the character Macbeth.

Over the course of the play, we witness Macbeth's rapid descent into almost pure evil. Shakespeare presents Macbeth at the beginning of the play as a good man, a "worthy kinsman" according to his cousin, King Duncan. Macbeth is "good" (or at least Duncan thinks he is) because he is loyal to the King and steadfast in carrying out his duty as a thane to Duncan. He is contrasted with the wicked rebel Macdonwald, who he is described as having killed in battle, and the thane of Cawdor, who is executed as a result of his treachery. 

Just before he kills Duncan, we see at least some good in Macbeth. He hesitates before the murder on the grounds that there is nothing but "vaulting ambition" that drives him to do the deed. He realizes that the murder is especially evil because Duncan is his kinsman, his king, and because he is honor-bound to provide the man with hospitality in his castle. So violating these ties is portrayed as evil. Macbeth has both violated his obligations to his lord and relative and attempted to transcend his place in society by usurping the crown. By the end of the play, Macbeth has become a figure of almost unmitigated evil, having Banquo and Macduff's family murdered in an attempt to keep his crown.

What is the message of the poem "A Poison Tree"?

The message of the poem is that if we hold anger within and nurture it, it is poisonous and can harm others.  In the first verse, the narrator sets the stage for this message by stating that when he is angry with someone and tells the person, his anger ceases.  But when he keeps his anger to himself, anger with "a foe" (line 3), his anger grows.  While the narrator makes a distinction in the poem between friend and foe, I think that this distinction is not all that important in terms of human emotion, since anger held in can just as easily be toxic to friend and foe. 

As the poem goes on, the narrator uses the metaphor of a tree to show what happens to the seed that begins as anger. He tends to the tree with fears, tears, false smiles, and "deceitful wiles" (line 8). This is the narrator feeding his anger by holding onto it, rather than simply letting it go. Ultimately, his anger bears fruit, the apple on the tree. When his foe sneaks into the narrator's garden and eats the apple, he dies from its poison. Thus, the narrator's anger has killed his foe.

Because our bones are made of calcium, why don't our bones react to water?

Calcium does react with water, but our bones aren't made of calcium metal. Bones are a collagen structure filled in with mostly calcium carbonate and some calcium phosphate. Calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate are ionic compounds that have different properties than neutral calcium. Neither is very reactive or soluble in water so bones don't dissolve in their aqueous environment.

Some calcium carbonate can be leached out of the bones because of an imbalance in the blood's bicarbonate buffering system, leading to loss of bone density. This isn't caused by the calcium compounds dissolving in water. It's a shift in equilibrium in response to a change in the blood chemistry. 

Elements that are reactive are more likely to be found in compounds than in their unreacted form.

What is the problem, and who does it affect in Freak the Mighty?

There are several problems/conflicts in the novel Freak the Mighty.  Most of the conflicts revolve around Max and Freak.  One problem is that Freak is dying.  He can't do anything about it, so he is constantly struggling with his outlook on life itself.  Freak is awesome, because even though he is struggling with knowing that he will soon die, his attitude is always positive and upbeat.  Freak's death though is a problem for Max who definitely struggles to come to grips with the loss of his friend.  

A second internal struggle is Max's struggle with his own self identification.  He has incredibly low self esteem.  He refers to himself as a stupid butthead quite often.  He's afraid of going out in public, because he looks like his murdering father.  Freak is the only character that is able to bring Max out of his shell, and through Freak, Max is able to begin enjoying life.  

One last major conflict is a man vs. man conflict.  Max's dad gets out of prison and kidnaps Max.  Max is afraid for his life, but he does eventually get rescued.  His dad, Killer Kane, is put back in jail.  

What does Eustacia Vye symbolize in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye?

In chapter 15 of Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is having breakfast in a diner and sitting next to a couple of Catholic nuns. One of the nuns teaches history and the other teaches English. Holden does very well in English so he has a conversation about Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," among other things. But right before they discuss Shakespeare, Holden thinks to himself the following:

"Then I started wondering like a bastard what the one sitting next to me, that taught English, thought about, being a nun and all, when she read certain books for English. Books not necessarily with a lot of sexy stuff in them, but books with lovers and all in them. Take old Estacia Vye, in The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. She wasn't too sexy or anything, but even so you can't help wondering what a nun maybe thinks about when she reads about old Estacia" (110).

The above passage shows Holden wondering about how a nun, who has chosen a celibate life, might think or feel when reading about women who have lovers. Estacia Vye is a woman in a Hardy novel who is nontraditional for her Victorian time period. Vye is a hedonist (pleasure-seeker) and a spoiled brat--basically the complete opposite of a nun. Vye symbolizes everything the nun would not be; hence, the reason Holden wonders how someone so innocent would react to a heroine so sinful.  Since Holden is at a point in his life where he is discovering everything about adulthood, he compares Estacia Vye to the nun in an effort to make sense of women. He doesn't have much experience with women at this point in his life, but he most certainly doesn't have experience with nuns. So like good readers do, Holden makes a connection between a woman character he has read about and connects her with the nun before him. Then he compares and contrasts the two women making mental notes about what a nice nun would think about a sinful woman like Esatcia Vye. It's definitely a brief learning experience as Holden runs around New York City for a few days.

What are some of Mariam's motivations and goals in A Thousand Splendid Suns?

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, a large motivating factor for Mariam is her desire to have a sense of family and love.  She is given away to Rasheed to marry by a father who is conflicted about outwardly loving her, and when she winds up as Rasheed's wife, he shows her no affection.  Mariam is like a prisoner in her home, and she longs for a child to break her misery.  When she cannot bear children, she is crushed.  Laila comes into the home, and at first there is great tension between the two; however, in time they form a tight bond.  Mariam is a motherly-figure to Laila's children, and Mariam feels like she finally has a family who loves her.  This love motivates Mariam to protect Laila and her children at all costs.

Where does the idiom "not cold in her grave" appear in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird? When was the idiom "not cold in her/his grave" first...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout the narrator uses the idiom "not cold in her grave" to refer to Mrs. Dubose. In Chapter 12, Scout notes that Jem changed significantly after Mrs. Dubose's death, and Scout says, "Mrs. Dubose was not cold in her grave," to indicate that his changes happened very soon after her death.

Upon Mrs. Dubose's death, Atticus had explained to Jem that Mrs. Dubose had actually been a very "great lady," mostly due to her remarkable bravery (Ch. 11). She was brave enough to let go of her morphine addiction before her death, despite how much pain she was in and despite her imminent death. Atticus's explanations of what Mrs. Dubose was really like as a person were real eyeopeners for Jem. Whereas before he saw Mrs. Dubose as simply evil, he now sees the same goodness that his father saw in her. His revelation that being a "great lady" is associated with being brave makes him very critical of his sister, and he one day shouts at Scout, saying, "It's time you started bein' a girl and acting right!" (Ch. 11). Though Scout later reaches the same conclusion that being a lady is being brave, Jem saying this to her makes her cry since it is so different from anything he has said to her before.

Many English idioms associated with the grave stem from the Middle Ages. In the Middles Ages, there were fewer distinctions between life and death, and there was a dominant belief in communications between the living and the dead. There was also a minimal understanding of death at the time, since there was little scientific knowledge of corpses or how they grow cold because blood stops flowing when the heart stops. As a result, one might associate growing cold as a consequence of being in a grave and not as a consequence of death itself. Similar grave idioms have their origins in the Middle Ages, such as, "Someone is walking over my grave" (see references).

Which literary device is employed in this quote from Macbeth? "Oh, I could play the woman with mine eyes and braggart with my tongue! But,...

The literary device most effectively used in this quote is juxtaposition. In this technique two opposing ideas are placed side by side for dramatic effect. In this particular example it is used to indicate Macduff's anger at Macbeth having had his entire family remorselessly murdered. He is sworn to revenge and will stop at nothing to come face to face with Macbeth and exact his vengeance. One needs a closer look at the text to identify the contrast:

O, I could play the woman with mine eyes
And braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens,
Cut short all intermission; front to front
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself;
Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape,
Heaven forgive him too!

In the first part of his rhetoric, Macduff states that he could be soft and gentle as a woman and be overcome with sadness and weep copiously for the death of his family or he could proclaim loudly and openly about how he was going to punish Macbeth for his evil.

The word 'but' introduces the contrast. Instead of doing just this, he wishes that there be no break or pause in time. He wants to immediately confront the fiendish Macbeth and face him, man to man, and thus engage him in direct battle so that he may avenge the cold-blooded murder of those he loved. This is the manly and courageous thing to do, in contrast to just crying and bragging about what he is going to do to Macbeth.

Macduff's resolve is clearly emphasized in this extract. He is determined and has the courage to confront the malignant tyrant and destroy him, as soon as possible.  

In Bridge To Terabithia (Chapter 7), what did Judy read to Leslie and Jess Aarons while they were working?

In Bridge to Terabithia, Judy reads mostly poetry, some of which is in Italian, to Jess and Leslie as they work.

In Chapter 7, Leslie is helping her father, Mr. Burke, renovate their new home. Meanwhile, her friend, Jess, finds the enigmatic Burke family strange. He finds himself repulsed by the close relationship between Leslie and Mr. Burke, which he considers strange.

Parents were what they were; it wasn't up to you to try to puzzle them out. There was something weird about a grown man wanting to be friends with his own child. He ought to have friends his own age and let her have hers.

When Leslie confronts Jess about disliking her father, Jess demurs. However, he accepts Leslie's invitation to come and work with her and her father. As they work together, Jess comes to realize that he has never met such an intellectually-inclined family as Leslie's. He marvels that Mrs. Burke (Judy) often reads to them as they work. In time, Jess discovers to his surprise that he appreciates the intellectual stimulation despite his difficulty understanding Italian poetry.

In Oliver Twist, what did Charles Dickens mean when he wrote the line, "we've just taken them out to wash?"

In the desperately poor and exceedingly peculiar world in which Charles Dickens' protagonist, Oliver Twist, finds himself, a pocket-handkerchief is considered an item of luxury, despite their obvious ubiquity. Early in Oliver Twist, the young orphan is sentenced to solitary confinement for the crime of asking for more food. Despondent, Oliver considers, consistent with the prediction of his jailer, "the gentleman in the white waistcoat," to kill himself. His only means of performing this act, however, is his handkerchief, which he could fashion into a noose. Oliver hesitates in hanging himself in this manner, however, because, as the boy reconsiders his option, pocket-handkerchiefs are "articles of luxury" that "had been, for all future times and ages, removed from the noses of paupers . . ."

Handkerchiefs, in other words, are symbols of wealth and sophistication, and it is in this context that Fagin, the leader of the band of young pick-pockets into which Oliver is initiated, makes the comment referenced in the student's question. Encountering "the Jew" for the first time, Oliver is struck by this older man's manner, and by his pocket-handkerchiefs. Fagin's response is as follows:

‘We are very glad to see you, Oliver, very,’ said the Jew. . .Ah, you’re a-staring at the pocket-handkerchiefs! eh, my dear. There are a good many of ‘em, ain’t there? We’ve just looked ‘em out, ready for the wash; that’s all, Oliver; that’s all. Ha! ha! ha!’

Oliver is not yet wise to the situation in which he now finds himself, and believes initially that Fagin and his minions are the manufacturers of these handkerchiefs and other goods he finds this odd group hoarding. Fagin's demeanor is unfailingly, at least at first, polite, and the career criminal presents himself in the manner of a true gentleman, the handkerchiefs lending credence to his fiction. As Oliver does not yet know the true nature of his new friends and surroundings, he perceives the handkerchiefs in the mistaken light of an upper-class world to which he can only aspire. This is the meaning of the misquote provided in the student's question. 

Analyze the parade of religious leaders in "Young Goodman Brown."

The first spiritual leader Goodman Brown sees in the woods is Goodwife Cloyse, an old and pious woman who taught him his catechism along with the minister and deacon of Salem.  Brown assumes that she has some godly purpose for being in the woods so late at night, and he wishes to avoid being seen by her.  However, when the devil approaches her, she recognizes him immediately and converses with him as a friend.  Brown is shocked.

Later, feeling guilty about his reason for being in the woods, Brown hides again when he hears horses coming.  Although he cannot see them, he hears the voices of the minister and deacon discussing a meeting with some local "'Indian powows'" who "'know almost as much deviltry as the rest of [the Salemites].'"  Brown is shocked, again, to learn that some of the most seemingly righteous religious leaders are, in fact, witches. 

It all begins to make more sense when he arrives at the Witches' Sabbath, where he sees that known sinners and people he's always believed to be good and pious folk sit together as equals.  Then the Devil himself says that "'Evil is the nature of mankind.'"  Thus, no matter who we are -- no matter how seemingly righteous or sinful -- we are all sinners alike: this is our human nature.  This explanation, then, accounts for the religious leaders' participation: leaders or no, they are human, and humans are sinners. 

If I were to meet Martin Luther King Jr. today what would I say to him?

This depends to a great degree on what your own interests are.  However, I would think that you would talk to Dr. King about issues that have to do with his work.  You could ask him about his own time in history or you could ask him about his views on issues having to do with our own times.  Here are some examples of things you could ask him about:

From his own time:

• If you hadn’t died, what do you think you would have worked on next?


• Which of your accomplishments were you proudest of?


• What was the biggest obstacle to achieving your goals?

From our times:

• Are you surprised at the fact that we have a president who is part African-American so soon in our history?


• What do you think about the Black Lives Matter movement? 


• What would you try to fight for or against if you were alive today?


• Do you think that our society is more just on racial issues than society was in the 1960s?

All of these are questions that you might ask him.  Are there others you can think of on your own?

According to myth, what is one reason the Grandmother Spider worries about raising the Sun's child?

In short, the Spider Grandmother has many worries just as Momaday's own grandmother has many worries.  Specifically, the Spider Grandmother worries about "raising the Sun's child" mostly because Spider Grandmother is part of the natural world while the Sun's child is partially divine. 

In order to understand this idea, it is important to understand a simple version of the Kiowa creation myth.  It begins with a boy born to a Kiowa woman and the Sun.  This makes the boy both human and divine.  Because the boy's mother cannot raise him, Spider Grandmother raises him.  It is during this time that her worries become paramount.  During her protection, the boy is split into two twins through a miracle.  One of the twins disappears into a lake.  By doing this, he becomes part of the natural world.  The other twin changes into the ten bundles and given to the Kiowa as a divine gift. 

As you can see, Spider Grandmother does insure the survival of the split twin sons, but one of them does disappear.  Spider Grandmother's fear, then, was unfounded.  It turns out that her connection with the natural world was important in that the one twin needed to return there.  In this way, Spider Grandmother becomes a representative of all Kiowa grandmothers:  a sign of tribal unity and tribal harmony.

Two candles are lit in Ranga's room and immediately two containers, P made of glass and Q made of stainless steel, are inverted over them. After a...

The most likely reason for this is that the stainless steel container around candle Q is a much better conductor of heat than the glass container around candle P. A candle that burns steadily, which is often taken for granted, actually requires a complex balance of heat and mass transfer for everything to keep going smoothly. The right amount of oxygen needs to diffuse to the flame, and the heat from the flame needs to liquefy more wax at just the right rate to replenish the fuel source without dousing the flame out. An imbalance in this last factor is what I propose went wrong with candle P and not with candle Q. The heat insulating property of the glass in candle P caused the temperature of the contained air inside to rise rapidly due to the heat from the flame that had no where to go. This increase in temperature likely caused too much of the wax to melt at the top of the candle, essentially creating a deep puddle of wax that snuffed the flame. Either that or (if it was a thin candle) the wax softened and the structural integrity of the candle broke down, causing it to sag or fall over and stop the flame. Either way, extreme heat buildup around a candle will certainly put it out one way or another. Meanwhile, candle Q burned and generated just as much heat as candle P, however the heat was able to escape the container by conduction through the metal walls. Thus, the air temperature in container Q did not increase as rapidly as in container P and the over softening or melting of wax did not occur.

Another possible reason that the increase in temperature in container P could cause the candle to go out before the candle in container Q has to do with the rate of combustion of the wax. The rate of any reaction or mass transfer is usually a function of temperature among other things. Thus there is a chance that a higher temperature in container P allowed oxygen to diffuse more rapidly to the flame, resulting in an increased rate of combustion (candle flames are diffusion limited by oxygen). This would lead to more rapid oxygen consumption and within minutes the oxygen concentration inside of container P could have dropped too low for the flame to continue. Because the temperature remained lower in container Q (as discussed) this problem would not have occurred as quickly and the flame would remain.

I believe that the first option is more likely than the second, but they are both valid and both arise from the rapid temperature increase inside of the insulating (glass) container compared to that of the conducting (stainless steel) container.

Where does The House on Mango Street take place?

The House on Mango Street is set in a lower-class neighborhood in Chicago. Esperanza's family have lived in multiple apartment complexes throughout Chicago. She remembers living on the third floor on Loomis and then Keeler before that, and Paulina before that (3). During those days of living in apartments, Esperanza's parents would dream about owning their own house. They dreamed of not having to deal with landlords and neighbors, pay rent, and share the yard. Specifically, Mama and Papa dreamed of the following house:

". . . our house would have running water and pipes that worked. And inside it would have real stairs, not hallway stairs, but stairs inside like the houses on T.V. And we'd have a basement and at least three washrooms so when we took a bath we wouldn't have to tell everybody" (4).

Esperanza's family does get their own house on Mango Street, but it isn't anything like the one her parents dreamed. Mama tells Esperanza that the small house is temporary, but Esperanza knows better. She describes her house as "small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath" (4). She also says that the bricks are crumbling and they still only have one bathroom. Since it is also located in a rough neighborhood in Chicago, they are surrounded by apartments and other buildings that make the yard seem very small.

What songs can be representative of the passage at the end of the book where Scout meets Boo Radley?

I immediately thought of songs about friendship when I first read your question.  There are several songs with lyrics that could apply to the friendship between Boo and Scout.  I did a little research (I have pasted the link below) and found a list of the top songs about friendship.  Here are a few of my favorites.

“Lean on Me” by Bill Withers

“With a Little Help From My Friends” by the Beatles

“That’s What Friends Are For” by Elton John, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight

“You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor

“I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5

There are some more contemporary songs on the list by artists like The White Stripes, Weezer, Jay Z, and Kanye West that you might have heard of and would be interested in choosing.  You can also look up lyrics to the songs on www.lyrics.com.  My suggestion is that you do that and choose a song with lyrics that really describe Scout and Boo’s unique friendship. Think about how their friendship developed and what they each brought to the relationship as it was being built throughout the story. 

Identify "common logical fallacies," and explain why you should avoid them when you write about literature.

First, one should avoid logical fallacies in any argument or defense of a stance. When analyzing literature, the first important logical decision is to separate fact from fiction, to remind yourself and your reader that the worlds of fiction are human constructions, not reports of real life, however historical the settings or the characters. The narrator, for example, can be reliable or not, singular or multiple, omniscient or limited to one point of view, etc. To forget that distinction is the fallacy of mistaken authenticity. The common fallacies are several. Ad hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this therefore because of this”) is demonstrated when a critic attributes the creation of a piece of literature to a separate event in the author’s life (example: Poe’s stories and poems are the result of his early exposure to university life”). Ad hominem arguments treat the writer instead of the work. (example: Hemingway’s promiscuous lifestyle diminish his novels’ quality). False authority is the fallacy of citing a source with no credentials. (example: Most high school English teachers agree that Holden Caulfield is the greatest character in literature.)

Which object best reflects light: a drinking glass, a sealable bag, a shower curtain, or aluminum foil?

Out of the options that are provided, aluminum foil would be the best reflector of light.  

To “reflect” means “to bounce off of.” Reflection of light occurs the best off of hard, smooth, and shiny surfaces. When bouncing off of such surfaces, light rays reflect at the same angle in which they hit the hard and shiny surfaces.

On the other hand, shiny and rough surfaces cause light to reflect in all directions. In other words, shiny and rough surfaces cause light to scatter.

The reflection of light is minimal when light hits a soft, opaque, and rough surface. The shower curtain would be an example of such a material.

Light would not reflect much off of the drinking glass or sealable plastic bag. Instead, light would mostly pass through such transparent materials.

In "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, why do you think Suyuan had such high expectations for her daughter Jing-Mei?

Suyuan moved to the United States with the hope of a better life for her and her future children. She sacrificed everything she had there, including her twin babies. She saw Shirley Temple and child prodigies on television and thought that, with enough work, her daughter should be able to be a prodigy, too. This seems even more realistic to Suyuan because one of her friend's daughters, Waverly Jong, is a chess prodigy. Suyuan thought of the United States as a land of possibility and opportunity for anyone willing to work hard enough. I think her perception of America, the sacrifices she made to try to provide a better life for Jing-Mei, and her failure to understand what it actually means to be a prodigy are what cause Suyuan to have such high expectations for Jing-Mei. 

What is the exposition to "The Monkey's Paw"?

Exposition is the beginning of a story.  In the exposition, the characters, setting, and inciting incident are introduced.  The inciting incident is the conflict that gets the plot rolling.

The setting is important in this story.  A story’s setting is the time and place where the story occurs.  The setting of this story is in the early 1900’s or late 1800’s.  It is a windy night on an isolated street where most of the houses are empty.

Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnam Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess, the former … putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.

There are many important aspects of this setting.  In addition to the importance of the isolation and the weather, the fire and the chess game are part of the setting.  They foreshadow the fact that something is going to happen, and that there will be tension.

The characters are the Whites.  There is a mother, father, and son, Herbert.  The parents are not given names.  They get a visit from an old friend of Mr. White’s, Seargent-Major Morris.  He has been in India, and that is where he got the Monkey’s Paw.

The appearance of the sergeant and the paw are the inciting incident.  This is the problem that the rest of the story’s events are based on.

"And has anybody else wished?" persisted the old lady.

"The first man had his three wishes. Yes," was the reply; "I don't know what the first two were, but the third was for death. That's how I got the paw."

The story continues from here, and this is the end of the exposition.  The next stage is the rising action, where the story develops as the Whites wish, followed by the climax where they face the consequences of their wishes, which is the most exciting part, and then the falling action where the story folds up.  The resolution is the ending, where they have to wish their son dead again.

Characterize Montresor. What kind of person is he?

Montresor is an extremely proud man; he is also very clever and manipulative.  At the beginning of the story, he exaggerates the number of injuries he had sustained at the hands of Fortunato, as if to justify his murder.  He says, 

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge [....].  At length, I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled [...].  I must not only punish but punish with impunity.  A wrong is redressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.

His pride will not allow him to labor any more under the insults with which Fortunato has apparently assaulted him.  He must seek revenge, and it must be done in such a way that he can never be punished for it (or else it doesn't really qualify as revenge because he'd be harming himself in the process).  Montresor feels that he must live up to his family motto: "No one harms me unpunished."  He clearly feels a great deal of family pride, as he tells Fortunato, "'The Montresors [...] were a great and numerous family.'"  Because Montresor speaks in the past tense, here, we might assume that his family is no longer as great or numerous as it once was, and this might be another reason why he feels so strongly about honoring the family by upholding their motto.  

Further, he thinks he knows just how to move forward with his plan to exact his revenge "with impunity," and he very nearly does achieve it.  He is quite cunning while preparing a trap to catch Fortunato, ironically, with Fortunato's own pride.  Montresor says,

It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will.  I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.

He wants to be sure that his auditor understands how craftily he proceeded with his plan.  Montresor tells us that Fortunato has one weak point, and though he never names it directly, we can assume that it is Fortunato's own pride, especially in his talent and taste as a wine connoisseur; Montresor says that "in the manner of old wines, [Fortunato] was sincere."  Montresor rather brilliantly exploits this one weakness in order to exact his revenge.  He engages Fortunato's pride by telling him that he bought a type of rare wine and that he was looking for another local expert to help him confirm the wine's identity, so to speak.  Fortunato cannot turn down an opportunity to showcase his talent (or rub Montresor's nose in his likely error).

What Montresor doesn't count on, however, is his own guilt.  He planned for everything except the way his own conscience might punish him.  It seems that, even though he was never formally punished for Fortunato's murder, his guilt has lingered for some half a century and this, perhaps, has actually been his punishment.  The fact that Montresor seems to be an old man now, on his deathbed, confessing the sins which still weigh heavily on his conscience, tells us that the murder has stayed with him.  He is telling this story to one who he says, "so well know[s] the nature of [his] soul," and the final Latin line that translates to "rest in peace," seems to support this reading as well.  Further, when he describes his feelings after he'd walled Fortunato in, he says, "My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so."  This, again, sounds like someone trying to convince himself not to feel guilty, that his actions were warranted, even justified, and there is really no reason to convince ourselves that we shouldn't feel guilt if we already don't.

Thus, Montresor is quite proud, and very intelligent...just not quite as intelligent as he believes himself to be because he failed to account for the way a guilty conscience could punish him for the remainder of his life.

Did Haemon deserve to die in Antigone?

In Antigone, Haemon does not deserve to die.  Does anyone really "deserve" to die?  That said, Haemon has not done any wrong to other characters, besides possibly insulting his father Creon by trying to get him to go back on his decision to put to death the person who has buried Polynices.  But even when Haemon makes the appeal to his father, he does so with respect and calculated statements.  Haemon tries to get his father to understand that the people of Thebes do not want to see Antigone put to death for following the law of the gods, so it is hard to see what would "justify" Haemon's death.  He kills himself as a statement of following moral honor and code, but he did not "deserve" his death.

Describe Ray Bradbury's style?

Ray Bradbury, a prolific writer of science fiction and other genres, is really known for his use of descriptive language in writing.  His use of figures of speech like similes, metaphors, etc. makes his writing very visual and appealing to readers because of the imagery.  Bradbury is also known for using recurring themes and motifs in his writing.  Many of his stories have the themes of giving up one’s individual rights, death, technology gone wild, and living an unfulfilled life.  He also uses recurring symbols and motifs throughout his stories.  An example of this is the mirror and what it means—man’s search for who he is or what he has become. 

 Bradbury’s ability to predict the future is another exciting reason why readers like his works.  It is uncanny what he is able to predict.  He predicted wall-size TV’s in his 1953 book, Fahrenheit 451 as well as “smart” homes and technology in the short story, “There Will Come Soft Rains.”

Overall, Bradbury’s writing is remembered and loved for its descriptive style and use of literary techniques like figures of speech, symbolism, theme, and recurring motifs. 

Discuss the reasons behind Lady Macbeth's anxiety and sudden change of behavior after Act 3.

Up until Act 5, Lady Macbeth is firm in her belief that she and Macbeth are taking the correct steps towards achieving power. She frequently calms Macbeth's anxieties and pushes his ambition further, as highlighted in the following lines of Lady Macbeth's:

That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. (II.ii.1)

These deeds must not be thought / After these ways; so, it will make us mad. (II.ii.45-46)

The sleeping and the dead / Are but pictures. 'Tis the eye of childhood / That fears a painted devil. (II.ii.69-71)

Come on, gentle my lord, / Sleek over your rugged looks. Be bright and jovial / Among your guests tonight. (III.ii.30-32)

In many ways, Lady Macbeth may be more ambitious than Macbeth, who shows anxiety and regret over his actions early on in the play. Lady Macbeth is confident in their choices until after Act 3. Beginning in Act 5 - she does not appear in Act 4 - Lady Macbeth is immediately wracked with guilt. A doctor and gentlewoman discuss her symptoms ("I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her; unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep," V.i.4-9). Lady Macbeth then sleepwalks onto the stage, confessing her crimes and attempting to scrub imaginary blood from her hands. 

There are a handful of justifiable reasons why Lady Macbeth has a sudden change of behavior in Act 5. The most obvious reason is that her guilt catches up with her. Blood is a symbol throughout Macbeth, often provoking fear and anxiety, and Lady Macbeth is preoccupied with imaginary blood in Act 5. Additionally, many of her earlier lines foreshadow her mental collapse. As highlighted above, she continuously tells Macbeth there is nothing to fear and that only children are afraid of the devil. Ultimately, Lady Macbeth is proven wrong and she emotionally unravels by the end of the play, resulting in her death. 

What is a principle you want to live your life by and why?

A principle I'd like to live my life by would be, "Accept yourself exactly as you are but never stop trying to learn and grow." Accepting yourself and all your flaws is the biggest struggle everyone battles with. No one ever really wins, but we do our best in the battle of the mind. We should strive to accept ourselves body, mind, and soul (or inner being/self if you don't believe in souls). We may not like how tall/short, fat/thin, etc. we are, but unless we accept the truth of ourselves we cannot move forward in life. We must accept our mind's limitations. So you're bad at math and amazing at art...learn new art forms, don't sit their smacking your head away at a math book to no avail, metaphorically speaking of course. Accepting one's self/soul includes everything that make you you: favorite colors and food, who you like to spend time with, interests you're drawn to. Once someone has accepted themselves they can grow from that point. Accepting who you are is a stepping stone into striving and becoming whoever/whatever you want to be in the future through growth and learning.

When was his grandmother born in The Way to Rainy Mountain?

The simple answer to your question is 1880; however, that exact date is never given within the text.  We can extrapolate the answer to this question by considering a few important dates having to do with the Sun Dance. By doing this, we can figure out that Momaday's grandmother, Aho, must have been born in 1880.  Momaday tells us that his grandmother, Aho, was seven years old when the last complete Sun Dance was performed in 1887.  Aho was actually there to witness this particular Sun Dance with all of its sacred rituals completed.  This Sun Dance must have included the opening of the sacred Tai-Me bundle, the revealing of the Tai-me effigy, and the worship of that effigy on the pole in the Sun Dance lodge.  Further, Aho witnessed the very last, incomplete Sun Dance as well in 1890 when she was ten years old.  This Sun Dance was left incomplete because the soldiers from Fort Sill arrived in the middle of the ceremony.  The soldiers proceeded to scatter the Kiowa tribe before they were able to complete their sacred rituals.

How do I find the electronegativity of SCL2?

The electronegativity of an atom indicates how strongly it can pull electrons towards itself when bonded with another atom. Each element has been assigned a numerical value to indicate its relative electronegativity. You can easily find the electronegativity value for each element by searching “electronegativity values of elements” on the internet or by looking in your chemistry textbook.

Electronegativity is an example of a periodic table trend. In general, electronegativity increases as you move from left to right across the periodic table and decreases as you move from top to bottom.

You can use electronegativity to predict the type of bond that will occur between two atoms as follows:

• 
  Step 1: Locate a table of electronegativity values in a chemistry book or on the internet.

• 
  Step 2: Use the table of electronegativity values to determine the electronegativity of each atom in the bond.

• 
  Step 3: Calculate the difference between the electronegativity values of the two atoms.

                  If the difference is > 1.7, the bond is most likely ionic.

                  If the difference is 0.4 - 1.7, the bond is most likely polar covalent.

                  If the difference is 0.0 - 0.4, the bond is most likely nonpolar covalent.

Now, let’s look at the molecule, .

• 
  Step 1: According to the table of electronegativity values, the electronegativity of S is 2.58 and the electronegativity of Cl is 3.16. This means that when a bond is formed between an S atom and a Cl atom, the Cl atom will pull more strongly on the electrons in the bond than the S atom.

• 
  Step 2: The difference between the two electronegativity values is: 3.16 – 2.58 = 0.58.

• 
  Step 3: Since the difference between the electronegativity values is 0.58, the bonds between the S atom and each of the Cl atoms are most likely polar covalent.

Why is Don Quixote always belittling Sancho and calling him derogatory names? The true measure of a noble man was not in how he treated his equals,...

There are several reasons why Don Quixote abuses Sancho the way he does.

The first two are related to each other: humor and entertainment. It is funny, in a broad, slapstick fashion, for Don Quixote to abuse Sancho this way. In his study of Don Quixote, Daniel Eisenberg suggests in these two characters Cervantes gives us the two sides of humor: the ridiculous and the ugly, and does so in ridiculous deeds (like attacking windmills) and ridiculous words (abusing Sancho) 

This abuse is also part of the larger inversion of the world. Everything in this novel is turned upside down. The "knight" is crazy, the monsters are not real, etc. As the question pointed out, knights are supposed to treat their squires with respect. Abusing Sancho is part of this inversion of the natural order--it aligns with insanity.

This, in turn, aligns with Cervantes' purpose for this story. Rather than being a straightforward romance of chivalry, it is a parody.

And finally, it is one of the many ways in which Cervantes signals we should look past the surface of things. Go with the surface, and Quixote is crazy and abusive. Look deeper, and he's a hero (and fond of Sancho, perhaps?).

In The Miracle Worker, what are things Helen does that demonstrate her intelligence and understanding of the world around her?

Helen cannot see or hear, but this does not make her unaware or unintelligent.  One day, her mother puts on her bonnet because she is going out.  Helen feels the bonnet on her mother's head and knows that she is about to leave the house.  She does not want her mother to go, and she tries to remove the bonnet.

When Miss Annie Sullivan arrives, she hands Helen a key.  The girl uses it to unlock Annie's suitcase.  Later, Helen locks Annie in her room and hides the door key.  It is later revealed that Helen hid the key in her mouth.  After Helen removes the key from inside her mouth, "she takes it in her fingers, stands thinking, gropes to the pump, lifts a loose board, drops the key into the well, and hugs herself gleefully" ("The Miracle Worker," Act One, Scene 8).  Helen is not pleased with Annie being in the house, so she locks the woman in her room and tries to remove any means of letting her out.

Describe the basics of the Big Bang Theory, the argument from design, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Are any of these theories compatible with...

The Big Bang is a model for the origins and structure of the universe. According to the theory, the universe was once a very small singularity that then expanded. In the time following the Big Bang, the elements that form the building blocks of the universe began to coalesce, giving rise to stars and galaxies. The remnants of this expansion can be observed today in the cosmic microwave background, and the universe is still expanding today.  

Despite popular misconception, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is an explanation of the diversity of life, not an explanation for how life arose in the first place (this is called abiogenesis). Basically, evolution by natural selection is driven by environment and mutations. Environmental pressures will favor certain individuals within a population and not others; as a result, those individuals with favorable traits (driven by mutations and variations that exist within a population) will survive and pass on the traits that allowed them to survive. Over time, a population will evolve to become better suited to its environment as its environment changes.  

The argument from design is less specific than the Big Bang (model of the universe) or evolution by natural selection (explanation for the diversity of life). It instead attempts to justify a belief in a god by pointing to perceived design in the natural world. A famous example of this argument is the watchmaker analogy, which asks the listener to imagine stumbling upon a watch. The listener would not assume, the analogy argues, that the watch just appeared as a random coming together of parts. Rather, the listener would assume that the watch was designed by an intelligence. This can be applied to the rest of the natural world as well, as the world shows apparent design in its structure.

As the argument from design is specifically meant to prove the existence of a god, it is most certainly compatible with Catholic doctrine. Regarding the Big Bang, Catholic doctrine is explicit that God created the universe from nothing; however, it is open to the idea that the universe may have arisen gradually after this moment of creation (as the Big Bang suggests). Evolution (and specifically human evolution from previous species) is a little trickier to square with Catholicism. The reality of Adam and Eve is essential for the foundations of Catholic doctrine, specifically that the sin of Adam and Eve brought death into the world and the sacrifice of Christ brings salvation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.

The concession that Genesis uses figurative language may allow for some wiggle room, but the Catholic Church is adamant that the events described did actually happen. A Catholic could argue that Adam and Eve were evolved from prior species before the events of Genesis took place, assuming that the language describing the creation of Adam from the Earth is this "figurative" language the Catechism speaks of. 

Which positive and negative character traits are exhibited by some of the animals in Animal Farm?

There were animals on the farm who truly relished the opportunity to live a life of freedom from man's oppression and were quite prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for the good of all concerned. One such animal was Snowball, who displayed a number of positive character traits in his approach.

After the Rebellion, it was he who encouraged the animals to spring to work, as indicated by the following extract from chapter 2:

"Comrades," said Snowball, "it is half-past six and we have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest. But there is another matter that must be attended to first."

He played this role until his expulsion. He was always hard at work motivating the animals and played a central role in organizing the farm. He, for example, created a number of committees and was tireless at organizing them, as we read in chapter 3:

Snowball also busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called Animal Committees. He was indefatigable at this. He formed the Egg Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League for the cows, the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee (the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep, and various others, besides instituting classes in reading and writing.

Clearly, Snowball was unselfish and had everyone's best interests at heart. However, a negative characteristic was that he, much like the other pigs, accepted that they were entitled to certain privileges from which the other animals were excluded, such as their claim to the milk and windfall apples. This suggests an air of superiority and goes against the principles of Animalism which expounds equality and fairness. This supercilious claim to certain benefits is mentioned in chapter 3 when some of the animals complained about the unfair distribution:

At this some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon.

Boxer, too, exhibited hard work and dedication. He was committed to giving his all for the farm, as we read, also in chapter 3:

Boxer was the admiration of everybody. He had been a hard worker even in Jones's time, but now he seemed more like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed to rest on his mighty shoulders. From morning to night he was pushing and pulling, always at the spot where the work was hardest.

Sadly, though, one of Boxer's negative characteristics was that he became too slavish and seldom questioned Napoleon's motives. Being the strongest animal on the farm, and the fact that he had the admiration and respect of the majority of the others, meant that he could have easily taken charge and opposed Napoleon's later dictatorial rule. His simple-mindedness prevented him from so doing and he, instead, adopted the maxim, 'Napoleon is always right,' leading to continued abuse and, ironically, his death, at the hands of the selfish, uncaring and greedy pigs when they sold him to the knacker.

Benjamin, the donkey, had the intelligence and ability to oppose the pigs and defend the other animals since he was just as intelligent as them - a positive trait, also mentioned in chapter 3:

Benjamin could read as well as any pig, but never exercised his faculty. So far as he knew, he said, there was nothing worth reading. 

The extract suggests that Benjamin adopted an apathetic attitude. This negative trait suited him perfectly, but if he had applied himself better, he could have introduced changes that would have benefited everyone. He could have challenged the pigs when they changed the commandments. His careless attitude displays some selfishness on his part and he, as mentioned in the following extract from chapter 3, remained much the same throughout:

Old Benjamin, the donkey, seemed quite unchanged since the Rebellion. He did his work in the same slow obstinate way as he had done it in Jones's time, never shirking and never volunteering for extra work either. About the Rebellion and its results he would express no opinion. When asked whether he was not happier now that Jones was gone, he would say only "Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey," and the others had to be content with this cryptic answer.

One could cynically suggest that Benjamin was too clever for his own good and maybe for the other animals too. 

One could also refer to Napoleon and Squealer in this essay. The former had a commanding and controlling nature, which resulted in his leadership of the farm. He was blessed with a natural ability to take control, a positive characteristic, but unfortunately, he was overwhelmed by a selfish desire for power and authority which lead to him abusing the animals for his and his cronies' benefit. In the end, his tyranny was even worse than that of Jones and his men. 

Squealer had the 'gift of the gab.' He was a persuasive and vivacious pig, able to convince others easily - truly a positive trait. It is sad that he did not put this talent to better use. He, instead, chose to manipulate the other animals and propagate Napoleon's abuse. Since he was such a brilliant orator, it was easy for him to spread lies and deceive the animals into believing whatever he told them, to ensure their acquiescence and silence. His greed and loyalty to Napoleon became a paramount factor in the abuse of all the other animals.

Is the fact that most likely you have less talent than Mozart a reason for you to refrain from trying to compose music?

There are many reasons to say absolutely not! First of all, it’s important to remember that Mozart’s composing abilities were as much a product of his environment as his natural talent. Mozart’s father, Leopold Mozart, was also a composer and musician, and Mozart began learning music before the age of four. It’s likely that Mozart’s musical prowess was indebted to the thousands of hours he spent practicing before adulthood. Malcom Gladwell and others have argued that to achieve mastery at any subject, it takes 10,000 hours of high-quality practice—Mozart had an excellent head start on this number due to his upbringing. Viewing Mozart’s talent as the result of diligent practice implies that anyone who is willing to put in the same time and effort—their 10,000 hours—can also reach lofty heights of musical achievement. More importantly, if you derive joy and delight from composing, there is absolutely no reason to refrain from trying your hand at writing music, even if you don’t have the talent of Mozart. In my mind, anyone who loves music has every reason to put as much into it as their heart desires—the process of playing, writing, and expressing emotion through music is its own reward.

How does Charles Dickens relate Christmas Carol to the Victorian Era?

A Christmas Carol is one of Dickens' most popular stories but, beneath its message of reformation, is a strong indictment of Victorian society. That Dickens was inspired to write the book after reading a report, about the working conditions of children in the Staffordshire potteries, speaks volumes about its social message. He wanted to bring to light the darker side of industrial Britain; a place where poverty and deprivation were widespread and, quite often, ignored. 

Nowhere is Dickens' social message more evident than in the first chapter when two gentlemen call on Scrooge and ask him to make a donation to their charitable fund for London's paupers. These people, banished to prisons and workhouses, were not based on fiction. Poverty was a genuine problem in the city and efforts to alleviate the problem were minimal. Scrooge's cold response represents the unhelpful attitude of much of the Victorian establishment: 

(Scrooge)"I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.''

"Many can't go there; and many would rather die.''

"If they would rather die,'' said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

This last line is repeated to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Present in the third chapter. By reinforcing this point, Dickens sought to make people aware of the problem of poverty and its humanitarian implications. He wanted people to feel the plight of others and to help them, not to ignore their very existence.